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A sentence which contains one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses is called a complex
sentence. (Dependent clauses are also called subordinate clauses.)
There are three basic types of dependent clauses: adjective clauses, adverb clauses, and noun clauses.
(Adjective clauses are also called relative clauses.)
Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns, giving a description or more information. An adjective clause is simply
a group of words with a subject and a verb that provide a description. The clause starts with a pronoun such as
who, whom, that, or which or an adverb such as when, where and why.
Adjective Clause: The books, which are lost, are not really necessary.
Adjective Phrase: The books lost are not really necessary.
Adjective Clause: The girl who is running is my best friend.
Adjective Phrase: The girl running is my best friend.
Adjective Clause: His share of the money, which consists of $100,000, was given to him on Monday.
Adjective Phrase: His share of the money, consisting of $100,000, was given to him on Monday.
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A. Adverb clauses show relationships such as time, cause and effect, contrast, and condition.
B. A sentence which contains one adverb clause and one independent clause is the result of combining
two clauses which have one of the relationships above. You can combine two independent clauses to make
one sentence which contains an adverb clause by following these steps:
1. You must have two clauses which have one of the relationships in A above:
2. Add a subordinating conjunction to the beginning of the clause you want to make dependent:
3. Place the two clauses next to each other. Usually, the order of the clauses is not important. When the adverb
clause precedes the independent clause, the two clauses are usually separated by a comma:
When the independent clause precedes the adverb clause, there is usually no comma:
C. The subordinators in adverb clauses are called subordinating conjunctions. They cannot be omitted.
They cannot be subjects. Here are some of the subordinating conjunctions:
Time: after, before, when, while, as, by the time, whenever, since, until, as soon as, once, as long as
Cause and effect: because, since, now that, as, as long as, inasmuch as, so (that), in order that
Contrast: although, even though, though, whereas, while
Condition: if, unless, only if, whether or not, even if, providing (that), provided (that), in case, in the event (that).
D. Here are some examples of sentences which contain one adverb clause (underlined) and one
independent clause. The two sentences in each pair have the same meaning:
The insect, a large cockroach with hairy legs, is crawling across the kitchen table.
The insect, a large, hairy-legged cockroach that has spied my bowl of oatmeal , is crawling
across the kitchen table.
The important point to remember is that a nonessential appositive is always separated from the rest of the
sentence with comma(s).
A hot-tempered tennis player, Robbie charged the umpire and tried to crack the poor man's skull
with a racket.
Robbie, a hot-tempered tennis player, charged the umpire and tried to crack the poor man's skull
with a racket.
And when the appositive ends the sentence, it looks like this:
Upset by the bad call, the crowd cheered Robbie , a hot-tempered tennis player who charged the
umpire and tried to crack the poor man's skull with a racket.
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An adverb that indicates the relationship in meaning between two independent clauses.
Unlike a conventional adverb, which usually affects the meaning of only a single word or phrase, the meaning
of a conjunctive adverb (or conjunct) affects the entire clause of which it is a part.
The object of the preposition will often have one or more modifiers to describe it. These are the patterns for a
prepositional phrase:
At home
In time
From Richie
With me
By singing
From my grandmother
A prepositional phrase will function as an adjective or adverb. As an adjective, the prepositional phrase will
answer the question Which one?
The sweet potatoes in the vegetable bin are green with mold.
The note from Beverly confessed that she had eaten the leftover pizza.
As an adverb, a prepositional phrase will answer questions such as How? When? or Where?
How did Freddy get stiff? From yesterday's long football practice!
Feeling brave, we tried the Dragon Breath Burritos at Tito's Taco Palace.
To smash a spider
To lick the grease from his shiny fingers despite the disapproving glances of his girlfriend Gloria
Infinitive phrases can function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. Look at these examples:
To finish her shift without spilling another pizza into a customer's lap is Michelle's only goal
tonight.
To finish her shift without spilling another pizza into a customer's lap functions as a noun because it is the
subject of the sentence.
Lakesha hopes to win the approval of her mother by switching her major from fine arts to pre -
med.
To win the approval of her mother functions as a noun because it is the direct object for the verb hopes.
The best way to survive Dr. Peterson's boring history lectu res is a sharp pencil to stab in your
thigh if you catch yourself drifting off.
To survive Dr. Peterson's boring history lectures functions as an adjective because it modifies way.
Kelvin, an aspiring comic book artist, is taking Anatomy and Physiology thi s semester to
understand the interplay of muscle and bone in the human body .
To understand the interplay of muscle and bone in the human body functions as an adverb because it explains
why Kelvin is taking the class.
When an infinitive phrase introduces a main clause, separate the two sentence components with a comma. The
pattern looks like this:
To avoid burning another bag of popcorn, Brendan pressed his nose against the microwave
door, sniffing suspiciously.
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When an infinitive phrase breaks the flow of a main clause, use a comma both before and after the interrupter.
The pattern looks like this:
Here is an example:
Those basketball shoes, to be perfectly honest, do not complement the suit you are planning to
wear to the interview.
When an infinitive phrase concludes a main clause, you need no punctuation to connect the two sentence parts.
The pattern looks like this:
Janice and her friends went to the mall to flirt with the cute guys who congregate at the food
court.